‘Divergent’ Author Veronica Roth on Her Film Adaptation

With J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter film series officially at its end and the final “Twilight” saga wrapping up soon as well, movie studios are on the lookout for new young adult-driven tomes to adapt. One project in pre-production at Summit Entertainment that is candidate for franchise-dom is Veronica Roth’s “Divergent,” a dystopian tale about a girl who chooses to leave her family and join a new “faction,” or different branch of society. Roth, who only graduated from Northwestern University last year, first came up with the idea for the story while driving between Carleton College, her first school, and Northwestern, where she transferred. She imagined someone jumping off a building, not for any self-destructive reasons, and that became a germ of a idea for “Divergent,” which does feature a large Pit within the world of the Dauntless faction. Finding the concept fascinating, she wrote 30 pages before selling her story aside, thinking it silly. Luckily, she picked it back up four years later and a trilogy was born.

Roth, who is currently working on the second book in the series, recently stopped by San Diego Comic-Con to talk about her book on Summit’s press day.

How did you get your book published?

After writing and polishing the manuscript, I got my agent by querying her. I had met her at a conference so she knew who I was, and then she submitted it to a bunch of publishers and four days later, we had an offer. The film deal came later. I think it was a few months before the book came out.

Why are young adults so drawn to dystopian fiction right now?

What they have in common is that these books have main characters that take charge of the world that they’re in, whether it’s fair or not. Most of them are in relatively powerless positions but they find agency and act. I don’t know why the timing of that is now, but this is an idea that is really resonant with teenagers, for obvious reasons.

How is the film going?

We’re pretty early on right now so I don’t know how things are going to go yet. I’m lucky enough to have my film representative sign with the production company [that’s making the film], so he lets me know what’s going on and I can tell him if I’m really nervous about anything.

Did you ever think of adapting it yourself?

I’m a book girl. I think it’s interesting and certainly exciting [to write a screenplay], but it’s not really what I want to be doing.

What do you read personally?

Lately, I’ve found myself reading less young adult books, though they’re still definitely of interest; in fact, right now, I’m re-reading Harry Potter. I mean, sometimes I read kids’ books over again, but I’ve also been reading some Marilynne Robinson and some Flannery O’Connor. I’m trying to mesh my interests together.

Has the Internet helped young writers be taken more seriously?

I think younger writers are taking themselves more seriously, because you see that it’s possible. You just decide you’re going to work for it. When I queried, I never told people how young I was. It’s all so anonymous, that people don’t know.

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